Pullback is a podcast that explores big ideas and asks: is this a real solution or a distraction? Through discussions with leading experts, we cover ideas that proponents say will address global problems like inequality and climate change.
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 07, 2023
Tuesday Nov 07, 2023
The five day work week was designed for an economy that relied mostly on physical labour. But does that framework need updating for the knowledge economy? In other words, should we be moving toward a four day work week? On today’s episode we talk to Dr. Dale Whelehan, the CEO of 4 Day Week Global, a company that helps businesses pilot a four-day work week. Prior to joining 4 Day Week Global, Dale did his PhD on fatigue and sleep deprivation in healthcare workers, so he is the perfect person to talk to about why we’re all so burnt out all the damned time.
Learn more about 4 Day Week Global: https://www.4dayweek.com/
Website: https://www.pullback.org/episode-notes/4dayweek
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Monday Oct 30, 2023
Monday Oct 30, 2023
As countries look to reach net-zero and to reduce their energy dependence on Russia, nuclear is having a moment. Nuclear energy is a non-emitting source of energy, but it also comes with some pretty big risks. Should countries be building new nuclear power plants? Or would this solution cause bigger problems? Environmentalists have been divided on nuclear energy for quite a while, and that debate is getting even more heated as the climate crisis becomes part of our everyday lives. On today’s Halloween episode we are joined by friend of the pod, climate activist, and recovering scientist Robert Miller to talk about the two spookiest things we could think of: climate change and nuclear winter.
Robbie recommends this New Socialist article: https://newsocialist.org.uk/stop-trying-make-nuclear-power-happen/
Website: https://www.pullback.org/episode-notes/s2-nuclearenergy
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Enjoy our work? You can now support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/Pullback
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
It feels like everyone is struggling to get by. With poverty and inequality on the rise, is unconditional cash the ticket to a happier, healthier, more equal society? Universal basic income is gaining momentum around the world – including in Canada, where the Senate is currently considering Bill S-233, which would require the federal government to develop a national framework for implementing a guaranteed livable income. There are now dozens of UBI pilot projects underway in cities around the world. So, what does the evidence tell us about Universal Basic Income programs and their impact on people, communities, and the environment? We are joined by Sean Kline, the Director of Stanford University’s Basic Income Lab, to discuss UBI pilots in America and around the world.
Learn more about Sean's work here:https://basicincome.stanford.edu/
Website: https://www.pullback.org/episode-notes/s2-ubi
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Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
This year of cascading disasters is a good reminder that climate change has arrived, and some impacts are here to stay even after we reach net-zero. Is climate repair an opportunity to get back to a place of relative safety for humanity? Or is it just another delay tactic? On today’s episode we dig into the debate on climate repair with Andrew Dana Hudson. Andrew is a sustainability researcher and a speculative fiction writer who has written Our Shared Storm, a novel imagining five possible realities of our climate future. Andrew explains what climate repair is and the role that technologies like direct air capture can play even after we transition off of fossil fuels. We also talked about speculative fiction and its role in confronting climate change in our collective imagination.
Get a copy of Andrew's Book here: https://www.fordhampress.com/9780823299546/our-shared-storm/
Read Andrew's Jacobin piece: https://jacobin.com/2022/08/zero-emissions-climate-repaire-crisis-carbon-dioxide-removal
Website: https://www.pullback.org/episode-notes/s2-climaterepair
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Monday Oct 09, 2023
Monday Oct 09, 2023
We are living in a biodiversity crisis: 42,000 animal species are currently threatened with extinction, which is more than a quarter of all species that have been assessed for the International Union of Concerned Scientists’ Red List. But are zoos a solution? On today’s episode we talked to Dr. Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde, a Professor in the School of Natural Sciences at Laurentian University. Albrecht is an evolutionary ecologist who has worked with the Toronto Zoo, so we asked him all about his work with zoos and how accredited zoos work to promote conservation.
Website: https://www.pullback.org/episode-notes/s2-zoos
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https://www.patreon.com/Pullback
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Sure, the rent is too damned high – but are we currently in a housing crisis? Or is the housing market working exactly as it was intended? On the first episode of our brand new season, we were joined by Ricardo Tranjan of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives to talk housing. Ricardo just wrote a fantastic new book called the Tenant Class, which makes the argument that tenants are an exploited class and calls for more tenant organizing as a solution.
Pickup a copy of Tenant Class from your local bookstore!
https://btlbooks.com/book/the-tenant-class
Website: https://www.pullback.org/episode-notes/s2-tenantorganizing
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Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/Pullback
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
Kristen sits down with author Seth Klein to discuss his book, “A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency”. This book explores what it would actually look like for Canada to mobilize on a wartime level to tackle climate change, using Canada’s efforts in the Second World War as proof that this isn’t the first time we’ve come together in the face of a world altering threat.
Get the book: https://www.sethklein.ca/book
Harbinger Media Network: https://harbingermedianetwork.com/join
Tuesday Aug 08, 2023
Tuesday Aug 08, 2023
Kristen and Kyla take a break from summer vacation to dive into the groundbreaking book "This Changes Everything" by Naomi Klein. Published in 2014, this critically acclaimed book discusses the interconnected nature of the economic, political, and environmental systems, and the ripples of it's influence can be felt everywhere in the climate movement today. Klein examines the impact of extractive industries on indigenous communities, uncovers the false promises of green capitalism, and highlights the importance of grassroots movements in the push for systemic change. While this book is nearly a decade old, it stands out as a timeless look at the many ways society could be acting to mitigate the worst of the climate and social crises facing us today.
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Monday Jul 03, 2023
Monday Jul 03, 2023
Kristen and Kyla sit down during their season break to discuss the book How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World by Chris Turner, a climate reporter sharing his personal research on technological climate solutions, from green islands to solar panel factories. This book outlines how much progress has been made in the last 25 years, and explores what technology exists today that could help electrify the grid if adopted at scale. Though the book was certainly well researched, Kyla and Kristen are disappointed in it's limited scope. They discuss the urgent need for stories of climate optimism that are grounded less in technocratic solutions and more in collective action driven by a hopeful vision of a more inclusive and less destructive future.
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Monday Jun 12, 2023
Monday Jun 12, 2023
Kristen and Kyla sit down during their season break to discuss the book The Great Displacement by Jack Bittle. This book tells the story of climate migration in the United States through interviews with those who have experienced climate disasters including floods, fires, drought, and storms. This book paints a picture not only of how climate change is already affecting thousands of people in a country that still seems to believe it’s a problem of the far future, but also of what climate migration is likely to look like in decades to come. Drawing on stories of how the insurance and mortgage markets are already shifting to reflect climate pressure, Bittle explores what a future in the USA might look like as geography and weather patterns change and old communities vanish. Other topics of discussion include; the current wildfires blotting out the sun in the eastern parts of Canada and the United States; how important housing policies are for disaster mitigation; how disaster relief works in Canada and the USA.
We also recommend Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World by Gaia Vince
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